Harm's Way
by Bent137
Summary: The seige on Terminal City is over, and though she should be relaxing, Max has another problem on her hands, one that's haunted her since her arrival in Seattle. : [Complete] : [Sequel to come]
1. Leaving The City

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: One  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter One: Leaving The City

The siege didn't last nearly as long as they had thought it would. Thanks in large part to Ames White. The coming had begun, and it had arrived quicker than expected. Dix had barely finished translating Max's ruins when Alec realized that it would happen that weekend. 

They moved quickly, establishing groups of transgenics with specific purposes, gathering supplies, training, gathering intelligence. Meanwhile, Max had contacted Detective Clemente, she and Alec met with him secretly, and showed him their findings, explaining who was doing what and when. 

Clemente was amazed of course, just when he thought things had reached their peak of weirdness, they'd gone and "built a whole new level of crazy," he commented with a heavy sigh and the look of someone who comprehended what they'd said, but didn't know where to begin. 

They agreed the transgenics would lay low until the weekend, then when the time came, if they were needed, Clemente had said, they would be called upon. Max and Alec knew they would be needed, but agreed without dispute anyway, promising to be prepared.

They were prepared, well prepared. They'd brought down the cult and the city of Seattle had rejoiced, they'd been rewarded with a removal of the barricades. They'd earned their freedom, and while they still had a few pigheaded activists against them and their kind, most of the norms were glad for the transgenic assistance, as well as their patronage when they came to their businesses. 

They were being treated normally, and Clemente had clarified that, that sounded exactly like what it meant. If one of their kind was caught committing a crime, they would not hesitate to take them down.

Most of the transgenics still lived in Terminal City, in the short time there, it'd become a home to them. Now it was better than when they began. Almost all the transgenics took on jobs, legal jobs, and some of those jobs included construction, electric, and even plumbing. Their extra strength and speed giving them assistance with their jobs. 

They returned to Terminal City and used their newfound skills to rebuild the place. Max had to admit it looked fantastic, she thought as she packed her bags. She and Alec were leaving Terminal City that day. They'd thought it over together, and decided they wanted to get back to their belongings, what few they had. As well as be closer to Jam Pony.

Part of Max was relieved to be returning to her old life, but she knew her new life would also be a part of it. It was a feeling she wouldn't trade for the world, and she knew she had many people she could count on now.

"Hey, are you ready to go?" Alec asked from her doorway.

Max looked up, "Oh, uh, yeah I guess." Her gaze swept the room, not seeing anything she didn't pack she zipped her last bag. She looked up at him, "Are you sure this is the right decision?"

"Yeah, for now at least, we can always move back if we need to. Everyone I've talked to understands our want to be closer to our jobs. Especially Dix and Mole since we are paying them to keep tabs on any information about Manticore and other transgenics."

Max nodded. "Alright, let's go."

Max and Alec left the room together. Heading for the gates. Max worried about the state of the rest of the transgenics though and how they viewed her and Alec's exit she was kind of happy about the decision to move back "home". 

She'd be back at work, earning cash. She could hang with her friends at Crash. Things would almost be normal again. Plus it'd be a lot better now that Sketchy knew what she and Alec were. 

What she didn't count on however, was her mind drifting back to one of the questions that had haunted her for a long time. The crisis' of the last few years may have pushed the thought to the back of her mind, but now that the siege was over it was back in the forefront of her mind. It may have happened years ago, before she met Logan, before Manicore went down and before Alec, but to her it was the most important thing at the moment. It was figuring out why her brother Seth died.


	2. I Didn't Sleep At All Last Night

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Two  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

Chapter Two: I Didn't Sleep At All Last Night

When Original Cindy walked out of her bedroom the next morning, the sight she saw almost made her faint. It wasn't the fact that Max was there, she knew that. It was that Max was up and ready for work before she was. "Boo, what are you doing?"

Max looked up from the skillet she had on the stovetop, "Makin' breakfast. You want some?"

"Uh, yeah sure, but I meant, what are you doing up and ready like that. Are you trying to give Normal a heart attack by being on time?"

Max grinned a little and shook her head, "Not really. It's just, it's my first day back and I guess I'm anxious to see everyone."

OC nodded, "A'ight, so what are you cookin' us up for breakfast?"

"Just eggs and toast."

"Hey, it's better than eatin' cold cereal alone."

Max smiled at her.

*

Max took a deep breath when she stepped into Jam Pony, intending to soak up the atmosphere, but choking on the scent of sweat, and some undeterminable stink coming from the open bathroom door. She looked around the place, it was fairly empty this early, and Normal had his back turned to the group. She made her way over to the desk. "Hey Normal."

Normal spun around, "Well, well, what did the cat drag in, late as usual I presume?" He glanced at his watch, assuming he'd lost track of time. "You're early." He looked up in surprise.

"That I am, I guess I just couldn't wait to get back here and terrorize you." She grinned a little.

"Well it is good to have you back. Golden Boy is coming back with you isn't he?"

"Right here Normal," Alec said appearing behind Max.

"Well, I never thought I'd say it, but it's good to have you both back."

"Thanks," Alec said.

"Yeah," Max added, "and thanks for your support."

Normal waved them off, "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah." He pulled out two packages. "Sector 8 and Sector 5, bip, bip."

Alec and Max exchanged a smile before making their way to the lockers. "Hey Sketch, man," Alec called.

Sketchy turned around with a smile on his face, "Hey guys!" He tried to hug them but decided that a nod and a pat on the shoulder might be safer… especially around Max's mood swings. "It's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you Sketch," Max said with a smile.

"Hail, Hail the gang's all here," Sketchy said, dancing a little jig. OC rolled her eyes while Max struggled not to laugh. Alec just smirked.

"It's almost like nothing's changed," Alec said holding up his package, "Normal's already got me runnin' my ass halfway across Seattle."

"I guess you'll just have to resurrect the whole Moto-Pony thing," Max commented. Max and Alec were silent a moment, remembering Biggs.

"I better get going," Alec said, turning to leave.

"Yeah me too," Max said. "See you guys later."

"Later Boos," OC said, while Sketchy waved.

*

Later that day Alec returned to Jam Pony after finishing a run and noted that OC and Sketchy were out but Max was back at her locker. He walked up to her, "Hey." She didn't even look at him. "Max?" Still no response, she was just staring into her opened locker. He looked over her shoulder to see what was captivating her so much, but there was nothing different there. "Earth to Maxie?"

"Huh?" Her head whipped around to look at him.

"You okay? I talked to you twice and you didn't answer."

"I was just thinking." She turned back to her locker and shut it.

"About?"

"Is it okay if I tell you later?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yeah sure, but I'm going to hold you to it."

She nodded, "Okay. Later then." She walked up to Normal and took a package before leaving.

*

It was almost quitting time and Max had just returned from a run. OC and Sketchy were congregated by the lockers. She walked up to them. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Not much, Max," Sketchy greeted.

"Yeah, Boo," OC added, "Me an' Sketch were just discussing celebrating your and Alec's return by congregating at Crash tonight."

Max shrugged, "I'm in."

"Me too," Alec said coming up behind them, "I just got a stop to make first."

"Oh yeah me too," Max said, "Actually I have two."

"A'ight," OC said with a nod, "See you around seven thirty?"

"Sure," Max said.

"Fine by me," Alec added. "I better head out."

"See you later man," Sketch said.

"I better go too," Max said, "See you guys later."

"Later boo," OC said as Alec and Max walked away.

Once they were out of the building Alec looked at Max, "Where you going?"

"Terminal City."

"Me too, wanna go together?"

"Sure, I just have to swing by the apartment and pick up my bike."

Alec nodded, "I'll meet you at your place then."

"Yeah, sure," Max agreed absent mindedly as they went their different ways.

*

Max and Alec strolled into Terminal City's headquarters side by side, Max deep in thought. Dix and Mole looked up as the two X's came in.

"Well, well," Mole began, straightening and pulling his cigar out of his mouth, "the prodigal son returns."

Alec rolled his eyes, "You knew I'd be back."

"Wasn't talkin' 'bout you pretty boy."

Max resisted the urge to roll her eyes and settled for giving Mole a quick glare. "Any news?" she questioned.

"Some, but amazingly very little," Dix responded. Max moved to join Dix at the computer as Alec and Mole discussed, well, whatever it was they discussed in low voices. Max figured it was Mole's need of cigars or perhaps payment issues.

"Fill me in," Max said as she sat next to Dix.

"Well, everything's pretty minor, a few squabbles with some norms and local law enforcement, but nothing monumental. There was a minor altercation earlier involving Starr and Wood," Dix told her, referring to two X5's whom had helped Max and Alec immensely during The Coming.

"What happened?" Alec asked coming up behind them.

"There was a robbery at a sector point early this morning, around five," Dix told them, double checking the info with a paper he had.

"Did they?" Max started to ask.

"No," Dix laughed. "They were out getting an early start on their job hunt and came across the scene. Apparently after saving the asses of two sector police and stopping the robbery they found their jobs. They're the two newest members of the Seattle Police Department. They're down at the station now getting things all settled. They should be back anytime, they're supposed to come in and give me the whole story."

Max nodded, "If you don't see them by seven-thirty send someone to check it out." Dix gave her a funny look. "Better safe then sorry."

"Well if it works out good for them. So is that all on the news front?" Alec broke his silence.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Great buddy. Mole's getting me a list of things needed here you got anything to add?"

"It's already on the list."

Max watched Alec and Dix talk, hoping she'd get a moment alone with Dix. That moment came when Mole reappeared and called for Alec to come look at the list. Max turned to Dix. "Can you do something for me Dix?" She kept her voice low, "and keep it on the down low."

"I can try."

"A few years back, a transgenic was here, in Seattle, and got killed. I'm not sure what he was doing in the city, but there was a new piece that the cops thought he was working with Eyes Only, and I was wondering if you could maybe dig something up on that."

"Why don't you ask Logan?"

"I will, but, I want to have back up. Just, maybe if you could find that news piece archived somewhere and check it out and maybe you could see if there's any other footage anywhere."

"I'll try, Do you know his designation or name?"

"His designation was 694, but he went by Seth out here."

"So an '09 escapee?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"That may make it slightly easier."

Max smiled, "Thanks Dix."

"Hey Max," Alec called from below, "We'd better get going."

"Yeah, I have to stop by Logan's though." She began making her way down to him. "Bye Dix, Mole."

"See you later Max," Dix said after her.

"Bye guys," Mole said, "Alec, don't forget what I told you."

"No worries Mole." Max and Alec walked out of headquarters and to their bikes. "Mind if I tag along to Logan's, or is this a booty call?"

Max rolled her eyes as she straddled her ninja. "It's not a booty call, and you just want to raid his fridge."

"True enough, but can I still come."

Max sighed, "Yeah sure why not."

*

"Logan?" Max called as she walked into his apartment.

"In here Max," Logan called as he began walking towards the door. Max began to follow the sound of his voice with Alec behind her. Logan wore a big smile when he stepped out from behind a wall. The smile faded when he saw Alec, "Something wrong?"

"Huh?" Max was confused before she remembered Alec was with her and realized that the unannounced arrival of the two transgenics could symbolize a problem. "Oh, nothing's wrong, we were on our way to Crash and I just wanted to stop and say hi and ask you something." She shot a pointed look at Alec.

"I'll be in the kitchen, raiding your fridge, pretending to give you some privacy." Alec walked into the older man's kitchen and the refrigerator could be heard opening.

"What's up Max?" Logan asked.

"I was wondering if you'd look into something for me. Especially since it has to do with you."

"What do you mean?"

"One of my brothers was on the news, before I came to Seattle, and they thought he was in a league with Eyes Only." Logan fish mouthed and Max pressed on before he could say anything. "I know you would have told me, which is why I want you to look into it. I want to know if he was in a league with someone, and such." This was the point at which Alec began to overhear their conversation. "I know he's dead, I watched him die. I just don't know why he was there. It could be completely innocent and he was just there for the score and you may not find anything, but I'd still like you to look."

"Um, designation or a name?"

"Designation 694, his name was Seth." Logan paled and Alec paused.


	3. Somethin' Ain't Quite Right

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Three  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Three: Somethin' Ain't Quite Right

"So what was up earlier?" Alec casually asked Max as they hid their bikes in an alley near Crash.

"Can I tell you later?" Max questioned.

"It is later, Max," he said, becoming agitated as he joined her near her bike.

"Okay. It's going to sound foolish though."

"Try me."

"I've been wondering about something, something that happened a long time ago, just when I came to Seattle. In a way it was the reason I came to Seattle." Alec nodded for her to go on. "I saw one of my brothers, Seth, on the national news. They were showing a clip of him fighting with police officers here in Seattle. So I made my way here to try and find him."

"Did you?"

"Yes, the same night he died. I found him at the Space Needle, there was a deal going down there between this computer tycoon and some Japanese business men. He was selling them a piece of American art. There was a bit of a struggle and some of the men went over the edge of the Space Needle, including the computer tycoon and Seth. For a while I blamed myself. Especially after what happened with Zack and Ben, it seemed like I was cursed. Cursed to kill my brothers either indirectly, or directly."

"That's not true. Max. You had nothing to do with Seth being there."

"Exactly. That's what's been bugging me. Why was he there? I was there because I knew that he would be. But why was he there? Was he there for the money and the painting to fence? Was there some other reason?"

"I don't know Max, but if you want, I can help you find out."

"Thanks, but I have Dix and Logan looking into it already. I'll let you know if I need help though." That said, the two transgenics made their way into Crash.

*

The way Original Cindy was looking at Max may have escaped Max herself, but it didn't escape Alec. He knew that Cindy knew something was up. The only difference was Alec had an inkling as to what it was. If Max kept up the distracted way she was acting even Sketchy would know.

"Max," OC said, "you a'ight?"

Max's head swiveled from looking at the other patrons of Crash to look at her, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you're acting like somethin' big is on your mind."

"I guess I'm just tired, all the excitement the past few months is catching up with me. I think I'll go home and get some rest. See you guys tomorrow?"

They all nodded their affirmatives and Max left the establishment. OC immediately turned to Alec, "Okay Baby Boo, tell OC what's going on."

"Honestly, I'm not 100% sure."

"But you do have an idea don't you?"

"I think it has to do with one of her brother's, one that's dead now."

"Ben?" OC questioned.

Alec was almost shocked, "You know about Ben?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but I know 'bout Ben."

"It's not Ben, it's another, named Seth."

"Never heard of 'im."

"I hadn't either, but she was asking Logan to look up stuff on him. Why he died and stuff I guess. She was there when he died so she knows the what, when, where, and how, but not the why."

Neither noticed Sketchy had been watching the exchange with mild interest until he spoke up. "Maybe he's in a league with that Eyes Only guy."

Alec and OC looked at him in surprise and then exchanged a glance with each other, Alec raising an eyebrow. "I suppose that's possible," Alec said slowly.

"Yeah, if anyone in Seattle needs a transgenic bodyguard it's him. He's gone after all kinds of bad guys. Political, law enforcement, business men, drug dealers, even mobsters."

"That's true," OC said. "Sketchy, you surprised me just now."

"I did? How?"

"You had something really intelligent to contribute."

"Hey, it happens," he protested.

"But the times are few and far between right?" OC arched an eyebrow.

"Well yeah."

"Guys," Alec interrupted, "though I greatly enjoy Sketchy's rare bout of intelligence, I'm beat. I think I'm going to head off."

OC nodded knowingly, "A'ight, be careful, Baby Boo."

"Always."

"Bye Alec."

"See ya Sketch." Alec got up and walked out of Crash he paused on the sidewalk before heading in the opposite direction as his apartment, whistling lowly as he walked.

*

Alec didn't even bother knocking on the door, he just walked in and took Logan by surprise. "What do you know about Seth?" he demanded.

"Don't you knock?"

"I said, what do you know about Seth? Now answer."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Logan feigned an innocent look, but Alec didn't buy it for a second.

"I'm not Max, Logan. I'm not going to buy that innocent act, because I know better. Now answer my fucking question."

"I don't know anything about Seth."

"Wrong answer. You see Logan, I have this inkling that you know a lot more than what you're saying. That you know all about Seth, because you knew him. Because he was working for you." Logan opened his mouth to protest but Alec plowed on. "Like I said Logan, I'm not Max, and I am rapidly losing patience here, so you'd better start confessing."

Logan was quiet a moment as he examined his options, it was no big secret he didn't trust Alec, and the feeling was mutual. If Alec was losing his patience there was no telling what he would do, so it would probably be safest for Logan to tell him something, anything. "I knew him."

Logan's voice was so low a normal person might not have heard, but Alec of course did. "I figured as much. What did you do? Find him and keep him as your little toy soldier just like you did Max."

Logan looked up sharply, "Max is nothing like Seth."

"She's exactly like Seth."

"She's beautiful and smart."

"We all are Logan."

"Besides, she wouldn't kill anyone unless it was in self defense."

At that Alec snapped, he picked up a small box off a nearby table and with lightning speed and precision hurled it at the wall next to Logan's head. It shattered and dropped to the floor. "She killed Ben, Logan. So don't tell me she can't kill. God, do you have any idea what you are dealing with. Max is not a normal girl."

"Sure she is."

A few steps and Alec was standing directly in front of Logan, "No, she's not. She's one of us, and she'll never be normal." He paused for dramatic effect. "She'll never be like you," He spat before taking a few steps back. "I'd hate to see what she does when she finds out you're responsible for her brother's death. You see, us X5's have a tendency to go a little loco."

"I didn't kill him."

"But he was working for you wasn't he. Running you're little Eye's Only errands, going on your missions, shaking down the bad guys."

"Yes."

"He was doing that the night he died wasn't he?"

"He was supposed to be, how am I supposed to know he actually did it."

"What was the mission Logan?"

"There was this guy, Sterling."

"The computer conglomerate."

"Yes. He was selling pieces of our Americana to overseas buyers."

"So?"

"It's blasphemy, and against the law."

"So you sent Seth to stop him how?"

"There was a deal going down. Seth was supposed to stop it by stealing the painting."

"Oh and that's so much more above the law?"

"If the ends justify the means."

"But they didn't Logan, because he got killed."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. I'm sure he went to that meet. He would have stolen the painting for you, knocked the guys all out, and taken the money to build himself a nice little nest egg to help keep Manticore off his tail."

"Do you think that's what happened?"

"Yes Logan. I do."

"Oh god."

Alec narrowed his eyes. "Oh god is right. You're supposed to be a smart guy, Logan, a guy with connections. How come you didn't find out about it until now?"

"Someone covered up the tracks real well."

"Manticore," Alec breathed.

"I suspected as much."

"You had an idea about all this and still you engaged Max in this little quid pro quo thing you have going on, which as far as I'm concerned isn't working much in her favor at all."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't actually found most of her siblings, they found her. Besides that you're knowingly putting her life in danger." Logan groaned. "I bet you never realized that huh?"

"Are you going to tell her?"

Alec only needed to think about it for a moment before deciding to give Logan a chance. "No, I'm not. She ought to hear it from you. But Logan, remember, if you don't tell her someone else will. Because it won't be long before she has Dix or someone besides you looking into it too." Just because he knew Dix was already looking into it didn't mean Logan needed to know. So it was with those words that Alec turned and left Logan's apartment.

__

To Be Continued...


	4. Alec’s Guide Of How To Get Information A...

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Four  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn." Um, and this chapter's title is really long...... like insanely long. But it was just too funny for me to pass up.  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Four: Alec's Guide Of How To Get Information About Something You're Not Supposed To Know About.

The next day Alec idly wondered if Logan had contacted Max and come clean yet. Perhaps idly wasn't the word. It was in the forefront of his mind, right next to watching out for trouble and getting supplies for Mole. Three pressing matters on his mind, he shook his head. Well, maybe there was a way to kill two norms with one bullet. Figuratively speaking of course, he unfortunately already knew it could literally be done. Deciding on a course of action and noticing his target leaning against the lockers chatting with OC he ignored Normal's bip-bip-bipping and strode over.

"Hey Guys," he greeted.

"Hey boo," OC said with a nod.

"Hi Alec," Max acknowledged.

Alec looked at Max, "What are you doing tonight?"

"OC and I were going to hang out at Crash like normal, why?"

He glanced at OC, "Mind if I steal her for the night?" He glanced at Max, "That is if she's up for it."

"Up for what?" Max questioned.

Alec leaned closer, "Mole needs some supplies."

"What kind of supplies?"

"The miscellaneous kind, which includes medical. Half of it I can get during work today, but some of it's going to require a little B & E."

"So you want backup doing that tonight?"

"Yeah, shouldn't take long. I have the place picked, and I know the guard rotations by heart, it's in, out and on with life."

"Sounds like it could be fun," she glanced at Cindy who nodded. "Count me in."

"Great."

"I've got to go, Normal gave me this run for Sector 7 almost three minutes ago."

"Hey while you're in Sector 7 can you pick up some stuff."

"Sure, what and where?"

Alec pulled some papers out of his backpack and shuffled through them until he found one labeled "Sector 7" in his neat writing. "Here's a list and where to get them." He reached back into his bag and pulled out and envelope, he pulled out about four bills and handed them to Max.

"Okay," Max said taking the money. "See you later."

"Bye Max."

"Bye Boo," OC said as Max walked away. She turned to Alec, "So, about last night."

"What about last night?" Alec asked as he opened his locker.

"I know you went to Logan's and interrogated him."

"I did?"

"Don't play with me baby boo. Just tell OC what's what."

He sighed, "Look, I want to see how some things play out first. But I promise to tell you next Monday."

OC nodded, "A'ight, you get the weekend."

"Thanks OC." With things under control her headed towards the desk. Now he knew Logan hadn't contacted her yet, and if he contacted her wanting to talk tonight she'd have to tell Alec. Plus he was getting an extra hand getting the supplies, and that was always welcome. He accepted the package normal held out and pedaled out the door.

*

"Knock, knock," Alec said leaning against the doorway to Max's bedroom.

She looked up from where she was sitting at a little desk writing something, "Oh hey, I didn't know you were here already."

"OC let me in. Whatcha writing?"

"Oh," Max may have blushed, but he couldn't be sure, "nothing really."

Hmm. Sounded suspicious, but he could let that slide. "Okay, so are you ready?"

"Well assuming black is the proper attire for this, then yes."

"Actually I brought you an outfit, I just guessed at your size so I hope it fits." He tossed a bag to her.

She pulled the cloth out, "It's white."

"It's reversible." He flipped his collar to show her the inside of his. "We need the black side to sneak in and out, and the white side while we're in there. It'll lower the chances we're picked up on cameras."

She pulled a second article out of the bag, "What the hell?"

"Oh yeah, and it comes with a really cool reversible ski cap too."

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow then shrugged and headed for her bathroom, "Be right out."

__

To Be Continued...


	5. It's Not What You Think You Know, It's W...

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Five  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Five: It's Not What You Think You Know, It's What You Don't.

Alec hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. The simple B&E had gone slightly sideways, nothing they couldn't handle, but still nothing that didn't get him injured, as usual. He couldn't even remember the number of time's he'd been shot. He lost count somewhere around 25, and that was while he was still in Manticore. Since he'd met Max the number had easily tripled. He'd been shot 15 times during the siege alone. He'd have thought it was that Max was unlucky if he hadn't been so enlightened as to realize that any transgenic in the outside world is unlucky. Figuratively speaking of course, they're lucky to be free. However, when that many people are after your ass a bullet or 15 tend to stick.

After they'd gotten out of the building Max had taken him right to his place. Pulled the bullet out of where it was lodged in the delicate place where his thigh met his buttocks. A mere half an inch from his manhood. He was almost disbelieving at it and had pleaded with Max multiple times to be careful until she finally knocked him out and went on with the emergency surgery. The good news was she hadn't damaged him as he had almost expected. He still walked into TC that morning with slight bowed legs. He sat carefully on a couch and looked around headquarters.

Logan hadn't told her yet. This much he knew for sure. There were many clues that tipped him off on this, the fact Logan didn't page her at all last night. The fact that she hadn't told him or acted any differently at all. The fact that she was with Dix now seeing if he came up with anything. Alec knew it wouldn't be long before the talented transgenic figured it out and told Max. Hell, if he could figure it out without access to Logan's hard drive Dix should know by now. No sooner was this thought through his head than a loud shout rung through the headquarters at Terminal City, startling the handful of transgenics that were hanging around.

"No." He heard it again. "Dix, that's not possible." Max was gesticulating wildly as she backed away from Dix, believing, but in denial.

Alec sighed, the shit hath hit the fan. He hurried over to the two and cautiously lay a hand on Max's arm. She spun startled and Alec raised his hands.

"Easy Max," he said and she relaxed visibly. "What's wrong?"

"Dix says that it was Logan. Seth was working with Logan. Logan sent him there, so he died because of Logan." Telling it to Alec seemed to release something inside of her and her shoulders slumped a little. Alec could tell that she was no longer in denial.

Alec was quiet, but he knew he had to know the answer to the question burning in his mind. It would make or break Max, and the way others viewed her. He was well aware that while the other transgenics in the headquarters busied themselves with fake work, they were listening with rapt attention, memorizing every detail to later tell their buddies with glee that they had been there.

"What are you going to do about it?" his voice was quiet, tentative.

Max looked up at him. She looked worn. He felt sorry for her a little.

"I guess I'll confront him," Max said finally. "I need to know the truth. Seth was my brother. If this is true, then," she shook her head, "well I feel really sorry for Logan."

"Why?"

"Because he'll wish the virus had killed him."

Exactly the answer the gathered transgenics had wanted to hear. Alec suppressed the urge to smile. "If you need backup, or just a friend..." he let the sentence drop off, knowing she'd understand.

"Thanks Alec." She smiled at him sadly. She looked down and turned to leave. She'd only gone three or four steps when she turned back to him. "Will you come with me? Just to wait outside of his apartment, you know, just in case."

"Of course." Alec was almost shocked she thought he wouldn't. She nodded and turned again. He fell in step beside her as they made their way out of Terminal City.

*

They stopped outside of Logan's apartment door and faced each other. Max took a deep shaky breath. "Are you okay?" Alec asked, reaching out and rubbing her arm.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"I'll be right here, if you need me, you just yell my name okay." She nodded. He pulled her into his arms for a brief hug that seemed to stabilize her. As she put her hand on the doorknob he leaned against the wall. Settling in to wait, his senses alert.

Max took another deep breath and opened the door. She took a few steps into the apartment and looked around. "Logan?" she called out.

"Max?" He was in another room, his voice muffled. As she made her way towards him he came out from behind a partition looking curious. He smiled when he saw her. "Hey Max, what's up?"

Max tried to take another deep breath, but it was shallower than she would have liked. She looked right at him, "Why don't you tell me?" Her words were slow, punctuated, and he knew exactly what she meant.

He sighed, "Alec told you."

Now Max looked confused, "Alec told me what?" What could Alec tell her? What did Alec know? No matter, she was here on business. "I'm here because I found out Logan. I know you're the reason Seth died."

Logan was thinking quickly now. Alec had to have told her. He was the only one who knew. He could use this. He snorted, "You're going to believe him? As though I wouldn't have told you."

Max was startled. He knew Dix was looking into it? He dared to question that? "Of course I'm going to believe him. He's never misled me before!"

Logan looked at her like she'd grown a second head, "He's misled you every step of the way. What about the virus?"

Max thought back, Dix had gotten them the cure, was there something fishy there? No, she decided. "What about the virus. He didn't mislead us at all that I can think of."

"Oh so you don't think he misled you by letting you escape and making sure you finished the job?"

Max was reeling, "Are you talking about Alec?"

"Of course, who else would try and feed you that rubbish? He was here the other night accusing me of as much."

Max's brain was moving as fast as it could. Alec had been here, looking for information. She'd bet all she had that Alec had gotten the information he wanted, that's the way he was. That means he'd known. He'd known for a few days and hadn't told her. Why hadn't he told her? "Alec!"

Logan looked shocked as the door opened and shut and Alec blurred in he stopped abruptly next to Max and took in Logan's unarmed form. "Uh," he looked at Max, "something wrong?"

"You knew didn't you?"

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He was so screwed. "Uh, yeah I did."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Good question, why didn't he? Maybe he should have. At least she wouldn't be busting his balls now. But would she have believed it? Oh. She's waiting for an answer. "Well two reasons. I didn't think you would believe me, and I wanted to give Logan a chance to come clean."

She studied him. He looked at ease, vulnerable. She looked at his eyes. He wasn't lying. Not this time, he was making a point of exposing himself to her. "Oh. Okay." She turned her attention back to Logan and both men were amazed. "So what do you have to say for yourself? And don't give me no crap. Dix is the one who found out. He hacked into your files. So you can't hide it."

Logan paled, "I didn't mean to Max. It's just those paintings were so important as a part of American subculture. Seth was supposed to skip town right after the job. He was concerned about Manticore being in the area."

"Why didn't he go before?" Alec asked.

"He thought that someone at the drop was involved with Manticore."

"You mean you told him that just to get him to go," Max said.

"I did not."

"Whatever," Max said. She pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to see you again. Don't call me. Don't page me. Don't come to Jam Pony. Don't contact Terminal City." She sighed, "Alec will you guard him while I send someone from Terminal City to come and confiscate his computer."

"Not my computer Max! It has all my Eyes Only stuff on it, I need it to make my broadcasts."

"Not anymore you don't. Eyes Only is out of business and if you don't like it you should have thought of that before you lied to Max and put her life in danger," Alec said.

"Exactly," Max said. "Wait. That's right. You knew what happened to Seth and yet you did the same thing with me? I thought you loved me!" She walked over to him and shoved him up against the wall. "You are so fucked now Logan. I would suggest not breathing wrong because you do, and you're dead. Got it?" Logan gulped. "Like I said, don't attempt to contact me. Don't attempt to contact any transgenics. You stay away from me and mine, and that includes OC and Sketchy, and we'll have no problems. You call, you page, you send mail, a package, a fucking smoke signal and we'll be on your ass so fast. It'll make those bad guys you bust look like kids playing cowboys and Indians." She backed away. "I've got to go tell Dix he's getting some extra equipment." She turned and walked towards the door, nodding at Alec, who was now sitting on the couch, on her way. "Thanks Alec."

"No problem." She left and the door clicked behind her. Logan sighed with relief and moved towards his computer until he heard the sound of a gun being cocked. "I don't think so." came Alec's cold voice. Logan turned around and Alec was still sitting on the couch but now he had a gun trained on Logan. He motioned to a chair across from him with his other hand. "Have a seat Logan, buddy."

Logan sneered, "You wouldn't shoot me. Max would kill you."

"Really? Do you want to bet, because I'm thinking I have the winning odds asshole. Let's examine the facts. My twin was insane. Max hates you right now. Max and I have grown closer than you would have ever wanted us to and I'm proud to call her my friend." Alec scratched his head. "Wait. I'm forgetting something." His eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!" His eyes narrowed. "I've been a trained assassin since I was 12. Now sit your candy ass down old man."

__

To Be Continued...


	6. Let's Stay Together Click

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Six  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Six: Let's Stay Together.... Click.

Max walked briskly into headquarters and glanced around. She spied Mole leaning against a nearby wall, cigar in mouth as usual. She made her way over to him and he looked up.

"Mole, can you send some people over to Logan's with instructions to confiscate his computer, all his disks, and do a thorough search of his apartment for any information he has that is either about us or may be of use. Alec's there standing guard until they arrive."

Mole smiled broadly, "No problem." He gave her a mock salute and walked away, his step had more bounce in it than Max had ever seen.

She suppressed a renegade smile and made her way up to Dix. "I wanted to thank you for what you did."

"No problem Max."

"Well as a reward you're going to be receiving new equipment and files to comb through."

"Logan's?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, no problem."

Max gave him a grateful smile then headed toward makeshift office, thankful it had a door and was semi-private. Shutting the door she ignored the paperwork on her desk and sank into the chair behind it. She buried her head in her hands and breathed deeply, trying to force the sobs that threatened to bubble to the surface back to the murky depths of her stomach. She closed her eyes, and in the movie theatre of her head she could see the events of that night with perfect clarity...

__

... There were two guards outside with a Lexus and a Hummer. After she'd made her way past them and into the space needle she noticed the elevators indicator lights giving away the location of the deal. Choosing to take the stairs instead she slipped into the stairwell and noticed the wet footprints leading up. She climbed steadily, losing breath as she emerged onto the level that had once been the dining room. As she stood there in the dark she heard Seth's voice, mocking her.

"Christ, do a sit-up once in a while, why don't you?"

She had whirled around and in true Manticore fashion the two had danced around each other, wondering why the other was there, suspecting each other to be a traitor. Seth's face when she accused him of being with Lydecker was confused and hurt. There wasn't time to dwell on that though as they had heard the sound of vehicles and rushed to the window. Standing beside her brother, they stared down in growing horror at the Manticore vehicles pulling in at odd angles. She thought he sold her out and initiated an attack on him. He defending himself physically and verbally.

"Max, I swear-- I'm **not** with him. I don't know how he found us." He blocked her punches.

"Sis-- we both need to get out of here." He was pleading with her now.

_She thought Seth was stupid as he brought the elevators up. Together they shoved tables into the elevators to keep them up, forcing Lydecker's men to climb the stairs. They escaped to the observation deck where the deal was going down. In the confusion a brawl broke out. She saw Seth fighting two Koreans in the rain. It was almost slow motion as she defended herself and noticed Kafelnikov aiming his gun at Seth and firing even as Max yelled a warning above the wind to her brother. At that point Seth and Sterling, both clinging to the briefcase, toppled over the edge. Max threw the end of the rope to Seth. She worked to pull him to safety but was shocked when someone grabbed her from behind. Max twisted in the air as she got thrown over the edge, her hands grasping at Kafelnikov's jacket. They fought still to get back to safety, however with the soldiers rapidly approaching it was nearly pointless. She looked down into Seth's face, he was staring up at her as a single tear trickled down his cheek, blending with the rain._

__

"Sorry, Max."

She watched helplessly as he let go of the rope. She dangled there watching Seth falling, silently, smiling at his sister despite Jared Sterling's terrified screaming and flapping his arms, causing the briefcase to burst open and money to rain down...

She was startled from her memories by the sound of her phone ringing, and quickly dug the phone from her pocket.

"Go for Max."

At first it was silent, but then trumpets suddenly began. Her brow furrowed as a voice began singing.

"I, I'm so in love with you. Whatever you want to do is alright with me. But you make me feel so brand new. And I want to spend my life with you." Her brow furrowed deeper. Who the hell was calling her and playing this song. "Let me say that since, since we've been together. Oo, loving you forever is what I need. Let me be the one you come running to. And I'll never be untrue." It was a nice song, an easy rhythm to groove to. "Oh baby, let's, let's stay together. Loving you whether, whether times are good or bad, happy or sad." Realizing it was Logan she hung up. Just as she did a knock came on her door without waiting for a response Alec walked in.

"Rude much?"

"I'm sorry, were you on the phone?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, but it's no big deal. It was just Logan."

Alec's brow furrowed, "Why was he calling?"

"He was just trying to win me back by playing me a silly song."

"Oh. I came to see if you're okay."

"I'm always alright."

"No, Max. You're not me so don't even try that line."

"Maybe I'm not okay," she looked down, "But I will be. Eventually."

"I know. If you want to talk though, or anything, I'm not good at this, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah. Thanks Alec. I think I'm just going to go home."

Alec nodded, "Okay. Get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye Alec."

"Bye Max."

She walked out the door and Alec sighed, pulling out his cell phone and dialing.

"Hey Cindy, it's Alec. Are you at your and Max's place?" There was a pause as he listened to the other end. "Well, you might want to be." He was silent again. "Just trust me, you want to be there."

*

"So she really broke it off with the human?" A group of transgenics were sitting discussing the latest development of their leader's life.

"Sure did," Mole said proudly. "Confiscated his computer and everything."

"Can you blame her?"

"Why? What happened?" questioned a younger X-Series, named Cody.

"She found out he was responsible for her brother's death."

"Really?"

"It was messy," said an X-5 named Bethany, "My mate helped bring in his equipment. He told me Alec was there with a gun on the human. Can you believe the human was crying as they took the equipment? He was even stupid enough to try to stop them, but Alec warned him into staying put."

Mole snorted, "So how many bullets went into him?"

"None, but his couch can't say the same. I mean it was like a quarter of an inch from his hand as he got up."

"Alec is awesome," added an X-6.

A chorus of agreement filled the air and Mole suppressed the urge to chuckle as he got up and left the scene.

*

Max was surprised to see Cindy home when she got there.

"What are you doing home?" Max asked taking off her jacket. "I figured you'd be out trying to find yourself a new flava."

"What, can't O.C. chill in her own crib once in a while?"

"Well yeah, sure I just thought, wait. Alec called you didn't he?"

"I don't know why Alec would call me boo. Why would Alec call me tonight?"

Max sighed, knowing he did, "I found out who was responsible for Seth's death."

"Oh, who was it?"

"Logan."

O.C.'s face softened as Max started crying and Cindy quickly pulled her onto the couch, hugging her tightly. "It'll be alright boo."

"No it won't. I confronted Logan. I said awful things to him and told him I never wanted to see him again. I even sent some of the X's to confiscate his equipment."

"He'll understand."

"I hope so. He already tried calling me."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, he played me a song, _Let's Stay Together_."

"How dare he ruin that song for you."

"I was thinking more like, 'How dare he call,' but yours is okay too."

"So what do you want to do now?"

"Right now I just want to sleep."

"Go on boo, go to bed. You need anything you just call Original Cindy."

__

To Be Continued...


	7. Gettin’ Busy? Not The Plan No More

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Seven  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Seven: Gettin' Busy? Not The Plan No More

Max took a deep breath as she headed into command at Terminal City. She looked around for Alec but didn't see him. Over in the corner Joshua was working on a new painting. She walked over to him, plastering a smile on her face. "Hey big fella, what you doing?"

Joshua whirled around, "Little fella can't see!"

"Why not?"

"Joshua, painting for little fella. Make little fella happy."

"Thanks, big fella," Max covered her eyes with her hands. "I won't look. Have you seen Alec?"

"Medium fella in his office."

"Thanks, Josh. I'll go see him so you can get back to painting and I won't see."

"Bye little fella."

"Bye Josh." Max turned, took her hands off her eyes and strode to Alec's office. She knocked once and entered when he called for her to come in. "Hey Alec."

He looked up from some papers on his desk, "Hey Max. What's up?"

"Joshua's painting me something, to make me happy."

"I know, we talked earlier, I think it's nice of him."

"Why did you call O.C. last night?"

"I thought you might want to talk to your girl about it."

Max nodded. "Well thanks, it was nice of you."

"Yeah, that happens occasionally."

Max laughed, "Everyone's been great through this so far. I expected a lot more 'I told you so,' especially from you."

"Maxie, that hurts."

"Well you did tell me so."

"I did, but I didn't plan on rubbing it in your face."

"That's reassuring."

"Say, you want to go get some breakfast before work? I know this great place in Sector 5 that sells homemade donuts. This little old lady makes them from a pre-pulse recipe."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Well, I suppose in such a situation a girl does have to have her sugar." She smiled at him as he got up and joined her.

"Especially when someone else is paying?"

"Exactly."

*

Max smiled to herself as she entered the ladies room at the bakery she and Alec were at. She was actually having fun. If Logan hadn't caused Seth's death she might have felt a little guilty. She never thought she'd have this much fun with Alec. He was being nice, but not too nice.

He was right about the place too, she hadn't seen any place quite like this in Seattle before. It was cleaner than most other establishments, and the donuts were great and decently priced. Finally someone who didn't want to take all her hard earned money. She was going to have a plain donut, but Alec insisted she try their Cinnamon-Sugar Cider donuts as well.

She finished her business, applied some lip balm to her chapped lips. She had a bad habit of biting them when she was stressed, and the past few days have been pretty stressful.

She reentered the main room and returned to the small table where Alec was waiting for her.

"Hey," Alec greeted, "you okay?"

"Sure, thanks for this though. You were right. This is a great place."

"It is, so are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. We better get to work."

Alec nodded, "I'll just pay."

She followed him to the counter and watched as he smiled at the woman behind it.

"That it for today Alec?"

"Actually, can I get three cider donuts to go?"

"Plain or Cinnamon-Sugar."

"Um, plain."

Max looked at him curiously as the woman hurried to put the donuts in a small brown paper bag. He returned her gaze steadily.

"For Dix, Mole and Josh."

Max nodded.

"Here you go Alec," the woman handed the donuts to him with a smile. "You come back soon. You too Max."

"I will," Max and Alec promised at the same time.

"Bye Marjorie," Alec added.

They turned and walked out the front door.

*

Max and Alec rode down the street together.

"Thanks for breakfast," Max said, breaking the silence.

"No problem."

"No, really. It was a great place, and it was nice of you to pay even though I offered to buy my own."

"Well, the way I see it you owe me breakfast now."

Max cracked a smile, "I hope you don't expect me to cook it."

It was Alec's turn to smile, "I'm not stupid."

Max smirked, "Well, I guess we'd better get back to work."

"Way to change the subject." Alec glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "You go, I'll take these back to TC and meet you there."

"Okay," Max agreed. "Bye." She steered her bike away from him and down a nearby alley. Alec watched and continued down the street.

*

Alec was almost to the other end of the alley when the van pulled up. His senses instantly on alert he froze as the door slid open. He dropped his bike and turned to run but a tazer caught him in the back. He stumbled, another tazer caught him in the leg and he went down. Two people clad in black, faces obscured, picked him up and heaved him into the van. One of them then grabbed his bike and tossed it in before jumping in and slamming the door shut.

__

To Be Continued...


	8. Missing In Action

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Eight  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Eight: Missing in Action

After finishing her shift at Jam Pony Max hurried to Terminal City. She burst into the headquarters and searched for Mole.

"Mole," Max shouted to him. He was up with Dix.

"Yes?" Mole turned.

"Have you seen Alec?" Max asked.

The room grew quiet and everybody looked around.

"We split up before going to work, he was supposed to come back here, then meet me at Jam Pony, but I never saw him. Normal was bustin' my ass all over the city."

"Somebody check his office," Mole shouted as he walked down the stairs towards Max. "He never came in this morning Max."

"Dammit, figures, this is the last thing I need right now, him getting into trouble over one of his stupid scams and not even telling me so I can save his ass." Max crossed her arms and looked up at Mole. "You'd better tell me what you know."

"As far as I know nothing's going on Max, he's been too busy getting adjusted to being back at Jam Pony and helping you out with the Logan problem to run any scams."

"Well then what happened? He couldn't have just vanished into thin air."

"Maybe he was taken?" Dix spoke up hesitantly, he winced as he spoke, expecting someone to get angry at him.

"But, who could have taken him? I mean, we defeated White."

"Manticore?" Mole questioned.

"Maybe," Max conceded. "I had thought we were out from under them though."

"Maybe he wasn't taken," Dix said.

"What?" Max questioned.

"Maybe he just got distracted."

Max and Mole both stared at Dix.

"Just trying to be a ray of hope," Dix grumbled.

"It's unlikely," Mole said.

"When and where did you guys split up? I'll see if I can get some hover drone footage." Dix asked.

"Sector 6 around eight."

"Alright, I'll check."

*

Alec groaned as he awoke. He was secured to a chair in a dark room. A small dingy window was high in the corner, and he could tell by the color of what little light it was providing that it was still day. His enhanced eyesight helped him examine the room however. It was small, real small, maybe five by five. There was a door directly across from him, it was steel. The walls themselves were cement. It reminded him eerily of Manticore. The door opened suddenly and bright light spilled into the room, temporarily blinding Alec. He squinted in displeasure, turning his face away. After a few seconds, when his eyes had refocused he looked back toward the door.

His breath caught in his throat, "You?" His brow furrowed as he looked at the person incredulously.

*

"Max," Dix yelled, "I think I've got something."

Max hurried up the stairs to where Dix was looking at something on a screen.

"What is it?" she asked as she stopped at his side.

"Well apparently shortly after you left him there was a riot a few blocks over, and every hoverdrone within a 5 block radius responded. One of them was near where you left him and I pulled up what it taped as it went."

Max watched the screen as the hoverdrone went over a building, then a street, and in an alley. There in the alley, on his bike was Alec. She was sure of it. Suddenly a van pulled up in front of the alley's exit. Alec stopped and dropped his bike, turning to run. She watched helplessly as a tazer got him in the back and he fell. The people moved with experience, but not the cockiness of White's familiars, the grace of other transgenics, or the military precision of Manticore. Yet she knew she'd seen them before. She watched the people pick him up and put him in their van. The hoverdrone neared them now, and the last thing Max saw of the scene was a familiar head, with short blonde hair. Then the image was of a street, and buildings, and a group of people rioting.

"I hope that wasn't who I thought it was," Max said.

"You recognized one of them?" Dix asked.

"I think so, rewind it to almost the end." Dix did it quickly. "Okay freeze it." The picture stopped moving and Max pointed out the person she'd seen. "See if you can clean that up."

"Who is it, do you think?"

Max sighed, "It looks suspiciously like this girl I knew, who was supposed to have gone to Canada."

*

"Yes, me."

Alec shook his head. "Why would you do this? I thought you and I got along?"

"We did."

"Okay, call me crazy, but friends don't kidnap other friends, Asha."

"They do when it's for a more important friend."

"Like Logan."

"Like Logan."

"Is he trying to get himself killed?"

"What do you mean?"

"Asha, you need to let me go before Max figures out I'm missing and who took me."

"No way, you're bait, kind of."

"Bait?"

"Well, maybe not bait so much as a tool."

"And that's so much better."

"You're going to help Logan get Max back."

"Please, that will never work. First of all, Max will never take Logan back after he endangered her life so much and lied to her. Second, Max doesn't care enough about me to be excited that Logan found me or whatever you have planned. Third, Max warned Logan if he ever went near a transgenic again she'd kill him. Fourth, actually there isn't really a fourth, just a question. Why the hell would you help Logan with this? I know you want him for yourself."

"I want him to be happy."

"How do you feel about dead, because if you want him alive you'd better let me go."

Asha shook her head and left, shutting the door behind her.

__

To Be Continued...


	9. Half Truths

Title: Harm's Way  
Author: Bent137  
Chapter: Nine  
Rating: R, Violence, Language.  
Genre: Angst, Humor  
Pairing: M/A Friendship with undertones, M/L angst  
Summary: Max finds out how Seth came to die, and she's none too pleased.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything at all to do with Dark Angel, if I did it would still be on the air.  
Author's Note: First, Thanks to Adrolien for taking a chance an unknown and new writer and betaing. This is a response to a challenge posted at NWP. It's the "After Seth" challenge posted by Vanessa_TaleWeaver, and includes spoilers for the entire run of the show and the first book "Before The Dawn."

Okay, so I just now noticed that throughout the fic Logan has still been living in his apartment in Foggle Towers, and I never mentioned anything about it. So I know this is slightly AU but White never shot up the penthouse. That's pretty much the only AU thing that has happened. I just thought that the conversations, particularly the Alec/Logan one from Chapter 3 had a much different feel in the penthouse than in Joshua's house.

  
Challenge: Here are the parameters:

1) Can be set anytime season 2, after freak nation, or in an alternate universe.

2) Alec and Joshua must help Max work through the fall out. OC would be nice too, but that's not compulsory.

3) Sketchy must make an appearance, in which he shows he's not as dumb as he usually acts. (long or as short as you want.)

4) Max must confront Logan about not telling her about Seth, and they need to have a rip-roaring fight.

5) Someone needs to point out to Logan that the deal he made with Max was extremely heedless of her safety, given what happened to Seth.

6) Logan cannot be portrayed as stupid or maliciously selfish. Narrow-minded, blinkered, and not nearly as accepting of Max's special abilities as he pretends to be, sure!

7) One of Max's other siblings must be mentioned. Living or dead, real-time or flashback, mentioned in passing or full-blown guest appearance - anything goes.

8) Whether Max forgives Logan or gets together with Alec is up to you. BUT she cannot blame any part of this mess on Alec, and they must be friendly, at least, at the end. Hot love and steamy sex are always preferred, however.

9) Alec cannot be the one to tell Max about how Seth died. He can be the first to know, but he cannot be the one to actually tell her.

****

Chapter Nine: Half Truths

Asha returned to where Logan was sitting at a laptop computer in the main room of the warehouse.

"Is he awake?" Logan asked without looking up.

"Yes," Asha observed Logan a second, her mind on what Alec had said, "What exactly is the plan?"

"I'm not really sure yet, I'm going to use Alec to get to Max."

"Won't she be pissed you took one of her friends?"

"Nah, she doesn't like Alec."

"Then why would she care you have him."

"Because he's another transgenic."

Asha's eyebrow knitted, this didn't make any sense to her.

"Let me get this straight. She found out about you and Seth, dumped you, told you she never wanted to see or hear from you again, and to never go near another transgenic or she'd kill you then took all of your computer equipment and you decided to take Alec for a plan you don't even have yet to win her back?"

Logan paused and tilted his head, looking thoughtful, "Yeah that's about it."

Asha's jaw dropped. 'The nerve of him,' she thought. 'He's such an ass for treating her this way. Alec was right, he's going to get himself killed, if not by Max then by Alec.' 

Asha cleared her throat. "Okay, well, let me know when you have a plan."

Logan nodded and Asha walked away.

*

The headquarters was quiet. There were only a handful of people there now, as most had continued with their day. Dix was working hard at clarifying the picture Max had asked him to. Mole and Max were the only two left in the room. They were sitting across from each other, Max watching Mole clean his gun.

"Max! I got it," Dix exclaimed.

Max hurried out of her seat and up beside Dix. "I can't believe it," Max breathed when she saw the image.

"What?" Mole demanded.

"It's Asha."

"Who's Asha?" Dix asked.

"She was a friend of Logan's, a freedom fighter. She helped him while I was still in Manticore. But why is she taking Alec? They're friends."

"Maybe you should ask Logan," Mole suggested, biting down on his cigar when he said the ordinary's name.

Max sighed, "I really don't want to see him again. But, it's Alec, so I guess I'd better."

Mole smirked, "Need anything?"

Max looked at him. "Yeah," she said, nodding, "If I'm not back in half an hour, send a team out. We can't afford to waste any time. I'll call as soon as I get any word. Dix, I don't suppose you can see if you can pick up that van anywhere else in the city on the hover drones?"

Dix's fingers began flying over the keys, "I can try. Now that we know that van took him let me see if I can find footage of it and get a license plate number."

Max grinned, "Awesome."

*

Alec looked up warily when the door to the room opened. He was relieved to see Asha's silhouette in the doorway. "So, did he tell you his plan yet?" Alec joked.

"He doesn't even have a plan yet," she replied, studying him.

"Stupid."

"Very." She sighed. "You were right."

"Of course I was right," he shot back. There was a pause. "About what?"

"About Logan. He's a fool, he's going to get himself killed. I don't see how someone as smart as he is thinks this could work."

"People do crazy things for love."

Asha sighed, "Yes. They do. I did. Now I'm going to do an even crazier thing for love." Alec looked at her suspiciously. "I'm going to let you go."

"Let me go?"

"On one condition."

"What's that?"

"I know, you'll tell Max, but can you please try and get her to overlook this one situation. I don't want her to have him killed. Now that I know the deal, I'll do my best to keep him in check."

Alec tilted his chin and smirked, "Let me think about it."

Asha nodded, "Okay. I'll be back soon with something for you to eat. Any requests?"

"Yeah, I'm feeling like pizza, Hawaiian style."

Asha grinned and shut the door behind her as she left. Alec sighed.

*

Max exited Foggle Towers, putting her sunglasses on. She unchained her bike, she had chosen to take it instead of her baby because it was quieter incase she needed to do a rescue mission. She swung her leg over it and pedaled down the street. She stopped at a pay phone in the middle of the next block and picked up the reciever. '_Good, a dial tone_,' she thought as she put a couple of quarters in and punched in the number for Terminal City.

"Terminal City, what can I do for you?" Mole's gruff voice answered.

"Mole, it's me," she answered looking around.

"Hey Max, what'd Logan have to say?"

Max snorted, "Nothing. He wasn't even there. Did Dix find anything out?"

"Let me check." Max could hear Mole talking to Dix in the background. "He says he tracked it through two sectors and is working on the third. From what he can guess it's either going south or towards the water."

"Great, tell him to keep it up. I'm gonna stop by Cindy's and have her let Normal know what's going on and then I'll be back."

"Okay, see ya then."

Max hung up and continued down the street on autopilot as she navigated her way over to her and Cindy's apartment. When she finally realized she was in front of their door she was confused as to how she got there. She had no recollection of the trip at all. With a sigh she opened the door and pushed her bike inside.

Cindy came out of her room with a smile, "You're back early, that's a good sign."

"Not really," Max sighed.

Cindy set her lips in a straight line, "Didn't go well with Alec?"

"Didn't go at all with Alec. Someone took him."

"You're kidding."

"No. Actually, Asha took him. I just swung by to let you know, and see if you could let Normal know whats up if neither of us make it in in the morning."

"Sure thing, boo. I know Normal would like to know that his golden boy was taken."

"Thanks Cindy, I'll let you know when we find him."

Cindy nodded. "You just go find our baby boo."

Max smiled at her and turned, going back out the door.

__

To Be Continued...


End file.
